Chinese Voices Project: Friends and Family

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A Modern Chinese Wedding (1.0 / 490)
Joanna Hsu
While each couple adds their own personal touch to the ceremony, every exchange of vows is accompanied by jovial toasts, parental tears, and lots of hong bao all around.

Taking Care of Daddy (1.2 / 325)
Joanna Hsu
Aging parents in China can count on their
children to help look after them. They've sometimes got their own ideas,
though, about how to spend their leisure time.

Looking for Love Online (1.4 / 406)
Lynn Long
Dating websites have become very popular
in Beijing, where posting the right kind of personals ad can yield dozens
of replies within minutes. Whether their interest is the kind you're looking
for is another question altogether.

Going Home for the Holiday? (1.4 / 712)
Joanna Hsu
This can be a depressing question in Beijing,
where a chronic shortage of train tickets makes it difficult for many
residents to get home for Spring Festival.

Will You Be My Valentine? (1.5 / 291)
Emily Fang
Valentine's Day is catching on in Beijing
as a favorite holiday for lovers, merchants, and chocolate addicts. Though
the American rituals are making a big splash, they do have traditional
counterparts in China and Japan.

The Gay / Lesbian Scene in Beijing (1.4 / 262)
Emily Fang
Attitudes towards homosexuality are rapidly
becoming more accepting in China's major cities. Bars catering to "comrades"
and "lalas" abound. For foreign visitors, though, the social
rules may take some getting used to.

No Wedding in a Widow Year (1.5 / 497)
Yang Qiong
A quirk in the lunar calendar makes this
an inauspicious year for getting married, and many couples rushed to tie
the knot before New Years Day. Their friends may wonder, though, whether
such haste will bring good fortune in the end.

Memories of Tomb Sweeping Day (1.6 / 428)
Joanna Hsu
Expectations of filial piety in China extend
after a parent's death. Their fulfillment in the rituals of Tomb Sweeping
Day can make a lasting impression on the children who are brought along
to take part.

Responsibility (1.6 / 497)
Lynn Long
Your aging mother is working in a Mahjong
parlor for $65 per month and could really use some of that money you've
put aside for your college education. What do you do?